Skinner Inc. will hold a notable sale on Saturday, November 4 at 10 AM in its Boston gallery, 63 Park Plaza. Previews will be held on Thursday, November 2, 12 to 5PM, and Friday, November 3, 12 to 8 PM.
Folk art and fine art, scrimshaw and silver, rugs and relics, pottery and portraits, tables and trade signs: every category of Americana is represented in this auction of more than 700 lots, many from some of the country’s most discerning private collectors.… Read More
Our March 4 American Furniture & Decorative Arts auction features a notable collection of Scrimshaw, Canes, and Nautical Antiques. Among the lots on offer, the most significant piece is a large whale’s tooth decorated by the Nantucket scrimshander Frederick Myrick depicting the ship Frances of New Bedford (Lot 116, Estimate $100,000-150,000). This tooth is one of only two known Frances teeth decorated by Myrick.
In a biographical note that appears in the Frederick Myrick of Nantucket Scrimshaw Catalogue Raisonne (Kendall Whaling Museum, Sharon, Massachusetts, 2000), in which this tooth is pictured, Stuart Frank writes that Frederick Myrick is “undoubtedly the most famous scrimshaw artist…[and his] work will likely always remain a cornerstone of any scrimshaw collection.… Read More
A Lecture by Stuart M. Frank, PhD
Friday, March 3 | RECEPTION 5PM | LECTURE 6PM
Stuart M. Frank is Senior Curator Emeritus of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Director Emeritus of the Kendall Whaling Museum, and Founding Director of the Scrimshaw Forensics® Laboratory. He is the author of the books Ingenious Contrivances, Curiously Carved: Scrimshaw in the New Bedford Whaling Museum; Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists; More Scrimshaw Artists; Scrimshaw and Provenance; Herman Melville’s Picture Gallery; Jolly Sailors Bold: Ballads and Songs of the American Sailor; The Book of Pirate Songs; Classic Whaling Prints; and numerous articles and monographs about nautical art, history, literature, and music.… Read More
BOSTON, MA – Skinner Inc.’s upcoming auction of American Furniture & Decorative Arts features over 500 lots, ranging from classic New England case pieces and seating furniture to exceptional ceramics, fine scrimshaw, and very desirable folk paintings. The auction will take place at the Boston Gallery, 63 Park Plaza, on March 4 at 10AM. Previews will be held on March 2, 12PM to 5PM and March 3, 12PM to 8PM.
Stephen Fletcher, Director of American Furniture & Decorative Arts, emphasizes that this auction offers not only rarities for the advanced collector but opportunities for new bidders to acquire “great pieces” that have been given modest estimates to encourage buyers to step into this vibrant market.… Read More
“This collection of nautical antiques represents the contributions of eight generations of my family’s history. My ancestors came to Jamestown, Virginia, in the 17th century, and later settled in Isle of Wight County. From the beginning they were involved in the nautical trades.… Read More
Boston, MA – Skinner’s Historic Maritime Online Auction offers a rare opportunity to acquire 17th through 20th century nautical artifacts, decorative arts, logbooks, manuscripts, maps, charts, navigational tools, half-hull models, highly detailed and impeccably built and rigged ship models, scrimshaw and other sailor-made objects, New York Yacht Club and America’s cup memorabilia, all from a single collection built over the course of eight generations in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.… Read More
One of the world’s most popular games, cribbage, has a broad and cross-cultural international following in the English-speaking world. Its counting boards, simply composed of neatly parallel rows of holes almost always grouped in double sets of five, are instantly recognizable, even if you aren’t a seasoned cribbage master.
Cribbage was invented, reportedly by an Englishman named Sir John Suckling, in the early 17th century. Played with just a deck of cards, the counting board, and markers called “pegs” which fit into the board’s holes, the game is compact, simple to learn, and satisfyingly strategic.… Read More
BOSTON, MA – October 6, 2015 – Skinner’s flagship American Furniture & Decorative Arts Department announces their upcoming live fall auction on October 25th in Boston at their 63 Park Plaza Gallery. Two hundred sixty lots span a broad variety of objects highlighted by the auctions top lot, a William Bradford painting of Boston Harbor from 1859 signed by the artist. Also featured are mid-19th century landscape paintings, 18th and early 19th century furniture, and varied group of 18th and 19th century pottery and porcelain.… Read More
Two-day Auction Features The Collection of Ellie Walker Hoover and Robust Offerings of Furniture, Maritime Antiques and Sandwich Glass
MARLBOROUGH, MA – July 30, 2015 – Skinner, Inc. will present important collections of Americana and Sandwich glass as part of its auction of American Furniture & Decorative Arts on August 8th and 9th. This two-day auction of over 1,000 lots will also feature maritime paintings, decorative arts, and fine examples of urban and rural New England furniture.… Read More
A one-owner collection of Americana
BOSTON, MA – June 5, 2015 – Skinner, Inc.’s June Americana-Online auction is comprised of a single, diverse collection of American furniture and decorative arts, assembled by a Northeastern couple whose eclectic tastes ranged from urban to country, classic to quirky, and folky to fine. The public will have the opportunity to browse, discover and bid from more than 500 lots on the block June 8th through June 16th at www.skinnerinc.com. … Read More